The Cicadas Have a Kickstarter

Two of 2013's most talked about (and most disgusting) trends have found themselves united on this here Internet: Yes, the cicadas have a Kickstarter. The notoriously loud mating insects didn't take a break from their swarming up the East Coast to set up the crowdsourced funding page themselves, of course — a documentary filmmaker named Samuel Orr did it on their behalf. With 20,000 of your dollars, Orr hopes to tell the story of "the most fascinating insects on earth." So far he has received over $8,000... for what actually looks like a noble-ish cause. Much of the cicada narrative has revolved around surviving a gross bug orgy. But Orr goes beyond the barf-inducing Instagram photos and violent Vine videos, using his 200-plus hours of footage of various broods over the years to create a pretty fascinating look at the short, sad life cycle of a cicada:

Unlike some other Kickstarters out there, this particular film project seems like a reasonable use of a couple bucks, considering the unrelenting curiosity surrounding these bugs that live beneath us for so long — until they really, really don't. Although, come to think of it, Orr's "teaser" video kind of gives all the good parts away, doesn't it?

Given the American obsession with miniature backyard sex invaders, this isn't the first time cicadas have drawn massive sums of money on the crowdsourced fundraising website. Brood XIX — the "southern" brood, which made it once-in-every-17-year appearance last year — got itself a more dramatized documentary. Amateur film maker Christopher Durai received over $4,000 to make a movie of plastic military men fighting the cicada insect army.